28 ƫđƫ333ċ (%06) #ċ*!0 | (^) FEATURE STORY
FEATURE STORY
W
hen the art of aikido
was emerging in the
mind of its creator,
Morihei Ueshiba, he could hardly
have imagined the number of
people who would embrace its
ethics and dedicate themselves
to its core message of peace and
harmony. Aikido is, above all else,
an idea. An idea that asks you to
let go in order to make progress, to
lose in order to win, to harmonise
with others rather than confront
them. Deeply philosophical, the
teachings of aikido go far beyond
the physical techniques used in
practice. Like all forms of budo,
the physical training of aikido is
but the prism through which you
come to perceive the essence of that
which you seek. Therefore, without
regular and vigorous practice, the
‘idea’ that is aikido remains hidden
from view. In order to know budo,
you must first cultivate the ability
to see with the mind’s eye; to
observe the truth of what you’re
looking at. This insight is true of all
forms of budo and acts as a natural
filter, disrupting progress for those
individuals who, for any number of
reasons, are unable to see beyond
the obvious.
I’m not entirely sure if the
estimated 1.5 million aikidoka in
the world today are following the
moral and ethical teachings of
O’Sensei (Great Teacher) Ueshiba
— his example was profound
and is not easily matched by his
followers. Having lived at a time
of enormous social upheaval in
Japan, O’Sensei witnessed first-
hand the result of humanity’s
dark side. It is perhaps not
too big a step to imagine that
Ueshiba’s search for peaceful and
harmonious living came about
due to the events that were taking
place around him. In any event,
his idea took root, and has gone
on to expand far beyond his
homeland. Like a tree that stands
between heaven and the earth,
aikido has spread its branches
to every corner of the world,
while in Japan its roots have
been strengthened by successive
generations of the Ueshiba
family, all of whom have accepted
the obligation to preserve and
protect the art and philosophy
they inherited.
When O’Sensei passed away
in 1969, his son, Kisshomaru
Ueshiba, became the new
leader (doshu) to an increasing
number of aikidoka around
the world. Kisshomaru Doshu
dedicated himself to spreading
his father’s message to an ever-
increasing number of non-
Japanese students, to which end
he visited a great many counties
to teach and demonstrate
aikido. And thus the number
of people interested in aikido
continued to expand until
today, when the art is practised
on every continent in the world,
and in countries too numerous
to mention. Kisshomaru
Doshu’s example of dedication
to aikido was inherited by his
own son, Moriteru Ueshiba,
when, in 1999, following the
passing of his father, he became
the third and present Doshu.
I have had the good fortune
to meet the current Doshu on
two separate occasions and even
though our meetings were a
decade apart, he seemed to have
aged little in the intervening
years. He continued to possess
the same natural, unassuming
manner that never failed to put
me at ease. His modest nature
and sense of humour flowed
Strengthe
the Core
easily, both tempered by a level
of skill in the dojo that left little
to the imagination. Now in
his mid-sixties, and just a few
years older than me, the Doshu
left me with a deep sense of
admiration for his ability to
execute the techniques of
aikido with such precision
and apparent ease,
masking the time and
effort required to make
the complicated look
simple and the
difficult look easy.
In January
this year I was
invited by Aiki